Cricket bowls over Tatu City

19July2017

As part of its long-term commitment to improve and develop sports by nurturing talent at the grassroots level, Tatu City has partnered with the Foundation for Youth Cricket and Education in Kenya (FYCEK) to set up a cricket hub at Tatu Primary School, a state-funded school adjacent to Tatu City.

The hub will provide cricket and life skills to children attending Tatu Primary School, with the possibility of being extended to other schools in the area in the near future.

FYCEK has already started training over 200 students at the school school in timetabled physical education classes during term time. They will also arrange training during the school holiday in August, and will continue sessions during the November-December holiday period. The training program will last eight weeks in total and and involve a minimum of 50 students. In the future, inter-school cricket tournaments will be arranged, sharpening skills acquired through the training and fostering a competitive spirit among the participants.

Speaking at the sponsorship announcement ceremony, Tito Oduk, Commercial Sales Manager for Tatu City said, “The partnership is in keeping with our commitment to ensure that we are not only building a city for the future, but also encouraging our youth in the neighbouring community to be responsible citizens.”

Students undergoing the training also will be coached on character development, with the long-term goal being to equip them with life skills that will support their overall growth and personality development. The character development program will focus on seven key areas, including curiosity, determination, enthusiasm, gratitude, optimism, self-control and social intelligence.

FYCEK Project Manager David Waters said, “We are introducing the game of cricket to kids who have never played it before. We are very grateful to the Tatu City team for supporting this initiative to provide sports and life skills to pupils at Tatu Primary School.”

The partnership adds to the list of sporting engagements that Tatu City is supporting. These include a partnership with the Kenya Rugby Union for the Kenya 15s team’s test matches and the recently unveiled partnership with Shamas Rugby Foundation that has seen a rugby clinic set up at Tatu Primary School, with the aim of nurturing youth talent in the sport.